A World Of Secrets
by Ron Lover 2005
Summary: The bed sunk slightly as he sat down, and Lily slid onto his lap.' Erm, minor kissing scenes in chapters to come! A mysterious, though quite humorous LJ fanfiction! R&R! Chapter Six is up!
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling.  
Information found from hp-lexicon

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**Chapter One**

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There they were. Lily Evans and James Potter staring at each other from opposite sides of the Heads Compartment. Lily gazing at James with a look of loathing, James with the lovesick grin he usually wore when Lily was around. 

Lily didn't dare believe what she had just been told. Apparently James Potter was to be Head Boy. This wasn't good, as she had been selected as Head Girl and it was well known that she loathed James Potter, and could NOT work with him under any circumstances.  
James, on the other hand, was overwhelmed with joy. It was well known he had fancied Lily Evans since third year, when he had realised that she was the only one who could not resist his charm. Over the years, he had tried to win her over, but she never gave in, and every time he asked her out (around five times a day), she had declined. This had only encouraged James and his liking for her grew and grew, and now he wanted her for one reason, and one reason only; the person she was. Not so he could use her, like she thought. He admired the way she was almost always top in every class, but Transfiguration. He admired how she was so determined and would not give up easily. He admired her sparkling emerald eyes and auburn hair, her beauty. He admired how she was kind to almost everyone, even Slytherins. He admired how she loathed him, a difficult task for most girls. He wanted her, but, being the 'egotistical prat' he was, it was going to be a difficult task for him.

"So let me get this straight," Lily said, eyeing James's dishevelled hair and crinkled shirt, '_Surely this is a Joke'_, "Your Head Boy? Its just not funny, pretending, James." she said warily as if talking to a toddler. James's grin grew even more.

"Why would I lie to you, Evans?" he said arrogantly, messing up his already messy black hair. "See look!" he said pointing to the 'Head Boy' badge displayed on plain white shirt. "It says 'Head Boy'! That means I am 'Head Boy.'" he said happily to Lily.

"I can see what it says, Potter, I'm not stupid. How do I know it isn't Remus's?" she replied coldly.

"Use your common sense, Flower. Remus, being the responsible little boy he is, would have jumped into the compartment, first chance he got. Do you see him now? Why would he play a trick like this when this is what he's wanted ever since first grade?" said James smoothly. "Don't get me wrong, I mean, I like Remus and all…"

"Sure wouldn't think that, the way your going on about him. Its almost like your jealous. Remus actually has a heart, Potter. He's responsible and hardworking. You, on the other hand… well, you may be a hard worker, but you have no feelings towards others. Its all 'Me, me, me!'. As for responsibility… well, I can't see why you would have been chosen as Head Boy. Hexing everyone in sight! Messing up your hair for no reason! Flirting with all the girls! Being an annoying bloody prat! Its all wrong! I was hoping you would have changed. Your seventeen!" spat Lily, voice rising with every word she spoke. She hated him. How could you not hate him? He may be good looking… very good looking in fact - uh - but there was nothing to like about him in his personality, that she knew of.

"That's a bit harsh, Evans. We all have a heart, and I do think of other people… I think of you." said James in no particular way. Just as Lily was about to speak, Professor McGonagall entered the compartment with her usual tight bun, green robes and stern look.

"I hope you are both getting along, as you will be working together all year! You must organise the Christmas ball - yes, Ms Evans, a Christmas ball -, you must organise prefect meetings, patrols, set a good example -"

"Yes, yes Professor.." interrupted James sounding extremely bored after Professor McGonagall's 5 second lecture, "We understand completely! We'll just go and tell all the prefects the passwords now." he continued, running a hand through his hair, much to Lily's disgust. "Where are they?" he said looking around the compartment.

Lily stifled a laugh at his stupidity, sparing a glance at the papers clutched tightly in McGonagall's hand .

"Mr Potter, I have already given the prefects the passwords. You two could be heard arguing from here to their compartment. I thought I'd save you two the embarrassment." she said eyeing them sternly. Lily could barely conceal a blush of embarrassment and averted her gaze from the Professor to the floor.

"That's right." said Professor McGonagall sternly. "Now, we have 30 minutes until we arrive at Hogwarts, I suggest you both change into your school uniforms immediately." and without another word, she turned on her heel and walked swiftly into the corridor, the door sliding shut behind her.

Lily stood up and searched her pockets for her wand. She waved it at herself and her muggle clothes were immediately charmed into the Hogwarts uniform. She hastily waved her wand at James and stepped out into the corridor.

* * *

"So, is Evans Head Girl?" asked the boy named Sirius Black. He had big grey eyes and long dark hair, with quite a broad chest… needless to say, he was gorgeous, and along with his friend James, they were one of the most the most handsome boys in the school. 

"Yeah…" said James, ruffling his coal black hair, hazel eyes sparkling with excitement."I hope you're not going to abuse your position James." said a boy named Remus Lupin, hoarsely. He was a tall boy, with sandy brown hair, and very light blue eyes. There was more to this boy than meets the eye; he was a werewolf. Though this did not change a single one of his friends opinions if him. He was a nice person, very quiet, and sometimes underestimated.

"Of course not!" James said, bewildered.

"Famous last words," sniggered Sirius quietly while winking to a girl walking past who stumbled and fell face first onto their glass door compartment, causing Remus to turn his head to the window and chuckle, James to snort and Sirius to jump to his feet and help the girl.

* * *

Lily sulked into her compartment and sat across from her friend, Rose Hayden. 

Rose was her best friend in Hogwarts; they did everything together. Rose had an oval shaped face with plump pink lips shaped like Cupids Bow. A round nose sat in the middle of her face, and she bore tumbling, waist-length shiny copper hair. She had such transparent eyes that it was hard to tell what colour they were, and her pale cheeks encouraged it.  
Words couldn't describe this girls personality… complete randomness would just about sum it up. Lily had never met anyone like her.

"Well? Is Severus the new Head Boy?" Rose asked Lily, winking.

"Lets… not talk about that." said Lily, whose almond shaped, breathtaking emerald green eyes appeared dull and tired.

"Hah!" snorted Rose, "You know I can't go a minute without saying something unless I'm meeting someone new, and if I haven't said something in over a minute I'm usually the one to say something and make a fool out of myself. So… let's talk about it." she said slowly. Yes. She had the maturity level of a seven year old when she wanted to have fun, but was otherwise very mature… especially when maturity was needed.

"Ugh. Fine. I have one word to say to you, and hopefully you'll be able to put two and two together. Here it is, so listen closely… POTTER!" Lily grumpily.

"That made _no_ sense whatsoever, Lily! Two and two is four, and what has Potter got to do with this? I'm asking a simple question. Who is Head Boy?" though Rose knew perfectly well what Lily had meant, and did that for the sole purpose of torturing Lily, who let out a scream of frustration, though couldn't help but smile.

"Shut-up. Shut-up, shut-up, shut-up, shut-up, shut-up!"

Rose smiled and continued, "Gee… Potter, eh? Next thing I know you two will be going out… then you'll marry each other and have little green eyed babies!" squealed Rose, squeezing her hands together and displaying slightly yellow teeth. Lily looked about ready to vomit.

"Ten minutes until we arrive at Hogwarts!" came the magnified voice of Professor McGonagall.

* * *

Lily and Rose were just walking out of the Great Hall, after the opening feast, when James came running after Lily.

"Lily!" he said, panting.

Rose and Lily both turned around, and Roses hair whipped James on the side of the mouth.

"You might not want to come so close, James." said Rose, grabbing a fistful of her own hair to make sure no spit or anything of the kind was left there from James' mouth, "Oh, sorry, are you alright?" she asked. James was just about to open his mouth to reply, but Lily interrupted.

"What is it, Potter?"

"Oh, we were asked to meet Dumbledore, in his office… now." He said, looking a bit dazed.

"Oh dear," said Rose suddenly, "those first years looked lost! Poor things! I'll go and help them. See you guys later!" and in a flurry of copper hair, narrowly missing James, she turned around and vanished, leaving only Lily and James.

"What for?" asked Lily suspiciously.

"Don't ask me. I suppose something about our Head Duties." shrugged James.

So together, they made their way cautiously to the Gargoyle, guarding Dumbledores office.

"Evans," James whispered, "What's the password?"

"Um… try Chocolate Frogs." at the words, 'Chocolate Frogs', the statute of the Gargoyle hopped aside for them, and they both stepped onto the sliding stairs.

In the silence, James wiggled his arm around Lily's shoulders, which was slapped away rather harshly by Lily. James grunted and knocked at the door to Dumbledores office.

"Come in.." Lily and James stepped into the circular blue room, lined with portraits, and home to many peculiar objects, known as Dumbledores Office.

Dumbledore acknowledged them with a nod and launched straight into conversation.

"Now Mr Potter, and Ms Evans, I am quite sure that you think this is to do with you Head Duties. Well, you are partly right and partly wrong. Please, take a seat." he said, pointing to two chairs that were not there before, but which Lily and James sat down on obediently.

"I am aware that this is all rather short notice, but I feel it is best for something to be done sooner rather than later. I am unsure of whether you are aware of the amount of crime that occurs at Hogwarts, and rule-breaking." Dumbledore paused, and Lily and James shook their heads, though James lips had tilted upwards a little. "Crime being stealing, rule-breaking being graffiti, blackmailing, and, well, I'm sure you would know some of the rules at Hogwarts. Anyway, let's just say a fair amount has been happening, and now with Voldemort recruiting everyone he can, even perhaps Hogwarts students as suspected, there will be much more trouble here. We thought, we being Hogwarts staff, that the Head Boy and Girl should set more of an example. We would like for you two to almost be in charge of these, hmm… happenings. That meaning that if a rule has been broken, the 'victim' will come to you, and you will figure it out and report them. Not only does it save time for teachers, but it means that you are helping people, setting a great example, and if I may say so, its quite a bit of fun to string everything together. I know it's a bit on the spot but, what do you say?" Dumbledore finished, his eyes sparkling with expectation.  
Lily and James shared a look.

"We'll do it."

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How was it? Shall I continue? REVIEW! 


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon

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_A/N - Just a little Authors Note.  
Thanks to my first reviews:  
**Larney **- Glad you like it XD.  
**Bob Smith - **Don't rub out the flowers. And I updated (finally).  
This story does get a lot more serious and the plot of this story may be a bit hard to grasp. Just bear with me and my second crack at a fan fiction.  
Sorry this took a while for me to post. This was a particularly difficult chapter to start (many ways to start) and I had some flaws in the plot that I needed to fix up, not to mention school work. But anyway, I updated so ENJOY! _

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**Chapter Two**

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She made her way as stealthily as possible, following David Snoot, down the dark and cold corridors of Hogwarts, her footsteps muffled (thankfully) on the same red carpet that was seen every year that would have supplied the only source of warmth in the corridors, apart from the occasional fire places and torches scattered here and there. Perhaps the odd heating charm - but warmth was the last thing on her mind. 

David quickened his pace, so the person in question lengthened her strides. It was essential that the she did not lose track of David. He seemed uneasy, as though he knew someone was following him. She smirked and started to jog up to him. David suddenly froze and spun around, though stumbled and fell over. Thankful for this diversion, she rammed herself against the wall forcefully. It was a miracle Snoot hadn't heard her.  
'_Note to self_,' she thought, '_don't jog_..' She let out a relieved sigh, glad to have gone unnoticed - so far. She looked over her shoulder and realised a suit of armour to her side now blocked her view. She heard Snoots footsteps begin and thought he must have been running, for her to be able to hear his each and every move over the carpet, and as quickly, though quietly, as possible, she followed.

David had short black hair with crescent-shaped eyes that were a unique, intense, dark blue. He was a sixth year Hufflepuff who seemed to have hardly any interests and basically no personality.

After a great deal of walking and hiding amongst the shadows, a sound met her ears, and caused her to halt.

"What a mystery…" she heard someone babble from a ladder, leading up to none other than Professor Egglestick, the Divination teachers classroom. She had been so intent on following David to his destination she hadn't noticed where they were actually going. She now saw where they were, and hid in the bold shadow, cast by the light of the moon, of a huge window. She watched as David hoisted himself hastily up the ladder, and watched with glee as he dropped his bag on the floor.

* * *

Lily and James were doing midnight patrol, that went until 1am. James kept on making attempts at conversations, which Lily ignored. 

They finally reached the corridor that held the Girl Bathroom '_Thank god! Anything to get away from him for a while…_' thought Lily.

"Potter, I just need to duck into the ladies. Won't be a sec… " said Lily, hurrying away.

"Oh okay. Sure, I'll just… wait outside and if a Slyther- I mean, student comes by…" she drowned out the rest of his words by slamming the doors of the bathroom shut. She let out a long sigh and rested her head on the door for a moment.

"Not much longer until the patrols are over…" she reassured herself. She lifted her head up from the door, and turned around. An unusual sight met her eyes. One you would not come across everyday. She walked forward. On the floor lay soaking wet books. She looked up and saw pages on the ceiling. She looked ahead of her and saw ink smeared on the mirrors. She turned around and saw bag in the corner of the room that had been ripped in two. She looked to the far-side of the room and saw quills bent and soaked in ink and some without feathers. She walked up and looked into the sink, and found a wand that someone had attempted to shove down the sink, but without success. Lily picked up the wand and put it into her pocket. The walls had all been smeared in ink.

"POTTER! GET IN HERE NOW!" she shrieked, looking down at the floor with her back to the door. She heard the doors being opened forcefully and, after a brief moment, felt warm hand slip around her waist, sending uncontrollable shivers down her neck, all the way to her toes. Her breath caught in her throat and she stood with her heart beating lightly though effectively in her chest. She was momentarily paralysed with an unfamiliar feeling running through her.

"You called, Miss Evans?" came the seductive whisper of James. She was thankful, for a moment, that he was holding her up, because she felt sure that if he had not been, she would have fallen over and giggled like a madwoman. Lily snapped out of her trance and spun out of James' arms, quicker than you could say 'quick'. Unfortunately, her short, red pleated school skirt flew up, showing Lily's underwear. Lily let out a scream of surprise and hurriedly put her hand on her skirt, as if to lower it from the air. James just stared with a huge grin on his face.

"Potter! You bloody pervert!" screamed Lily, going bright red.

"I didn't do anything!" protested James, slyly.

"You caused me to do that!"spat Lily.

"What the bloody hell happened here!" asked James suddenly, indicating the bathroom.

"That's the reason I called you in here before," sniffed Lily, "and then you came and bloody-"

"Wait a minute! You didn't even react until about 10 seconds later! And then you pirouetted like some gorgeous ballerina…"

"Spare me," snapped Lily, whose face was still as bright as it was when she had 'pirouetted'.

James turned around, resigned from the argument. He let out a slight chuckle.

"Hey, this is our job right? We've got to figure out who did this-"

"Another thing your responsible for!" seethed Lily, still angry at James and keen to be difficult. "You hadn't even consulted me about doing the job! Just agreed to it on the spot." Lily opened her mouth and took a huge breath, ready to continue rambling. '_She's_ _bloody impossible!_' thought James. He knew that he had better interrupt, if he didn't want to endure a lecture."Well, I'd say whoever did this was really… frustrated, or angry." James mocked Lily. She just glowered. "Oh come on Lily! Focus on the task ahead! What do we know so far? Its probably a girl. It was done today, not too long ago, I would guess…"

"Definitely a girl," Lily said, sounding a bit disgusted. James turned around to face her and saw that she was holding a lengthy strand of black hair that was dripping in ink. It was about 2 foot long.

"Your right… no bloke in Hogwarts has hair as long as that." commented James.

"I'll go andrinse it, to see what colour it is. Meanwhile you look around… Oh, I've got a wand in my pocket. I found it half shoved down a sink in here."

James didn't comment. He looked in all the ink patterns on the walls and floors, and found many more hairs, of about the same length that Lily found. They appeared to be black, but once washed turned out to be a very blonde colour, though still effected slightly by the ink.

"Lily! There is hair bloody everywhere! Its all the same length, all the same colour…"

Lily grabbed a broken quill and dabbed it in some ink, on the walls. She wrote down everything on her hand.

"It's a girl with blonde hair… angry… suffers from… hair loss?"

"That's about it. I'll check on one of these books, see if I can get name from it…" muttered James. He bent down and picked up a very wet, potions book. He opened the cover and found a smeared name on the front.

"This blokes name is David Snoot… ever heard of him?" asked James, surveying the book.

There was no answer from Lily. James turned around and saw her. She stood hunched over the sink, with a pained look across her face.

"Are you alright Lily?" asked James softly, coming up behind her and clasping her shoulder with those warm hands of his. As soon as he contacted her, she let out a sharp, croaky rasp, and turned around. James thought he saw a bright colour shoot across her eyes that temporarily blinded him with a blue-green colour. Her eyes had seemed a dark brown… different from her usual bright green. Though after a second he thought he must have imagined it. Lily only looked frail and tired, and her eyes were far from brown. A very light, intensive green.

"Yeah… I just want to go to bed… I think we've done all we can here." she murmured.

"Uh… okay. The person who this attack was aimed at… his name is David Snoot."

"So you said. We'll look for him tomorrow… Good night, Potter," yawned Lily, walking unevenly towards the door, and leaving a very confused James to clean the girls bathroom.

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_A/N: Remember to review, or no updating ;). Positive and negative feedback appreciated. _

Ron Lover 2005


	3. Chapter Three

_Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon._

_A/N:Thank you to Out Of Luck for reviewing this chapter! And now I bring you chapter three.  
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**Chapter Three  
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Lily looked around the Great Hall, looking for someone with blonde hair. It had never occurred to her how many blondes there were in Hogwarts. David, after one day, still hadn't come to Lily or James, but it was a matter of time before he would. How long could you go without using your wand or reading fliers advertising Lily and James' new job? Yes, fliers had been put all over the school, advertising Lily and James' new job. Dumbledores doing, she supposed.

"I have no idea what Wolf bane and Wormwood together make," explained Rose to her agitated, first-year sister name Ethel, who was a spitting image of Rose.

"You studied it in first year, too, you liar!" hissed Ethel. "Slugger told us. Its crucial."

"Now now, Ethel. Respect for our teachers, please. Haven't you got better things to do? Go … ask your little friends. Study it. Ask the teacher. Rosey is a bit busy at the moment. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all," said Rose, with the air of someone explaining something extremely easy and time wasting.

"I'm eleven!" she spat.

"I'm seventeen... " giggled Rose, but Ethel went on as though she hadn't heard her.

"Just because your turning seventeen soon, doesn't make you seventeen. And anyway, I bet you wouldn't have appreciated this kind of treatment when you were my age," huffed Ethel.

"What a lovely, mature young child," Sirius smiled at Ethel. "What a shame Rose, her _sister_, couldn't take after her." sneered Sirius from across the table.

"And - are you mature?" asked Rose.

"I'll have you know -"

"Shut your over-sized, food filled mouth, Black! Just shut-up." snapped Rose.

"Don't tell _me _to shut up!" retorted Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Ethel who was watching Rose with an interested facial expression, while munching on some bacon found on Rose's plate. When she finally made eye contact with Lily, her lips stretched into a smile and she waved at Lily, who smiled back. After a moments pause, Ethel seemed to grow tired of her sisters constant arguing with Sirius.

"I don't have time for this. I have better things to do… like research for my assignment, since someone here was too heartless to share information with her own sister, and make it easier!" she screeched, though the only people who heard Ethel were Lily and Remus. James's head was on the table, and loud snores could be heard issuing from his open mouth.

"He hasn't had much sleep lately," explained Remus quietly, pushing James' face from the table and into the air again.

"I see. Why n-?" but she was interrupted.

"Excuse me?" came the deadly whisper of Rose who was staring at Sirius with venom spitting through her watery eyes.

"Um …" said a shocked Sirius, obviously not expecting to affect Rose.

Rose grabbed her bag from the table and stormed off. You could practically feel the anger radiating off her.

"Sirius! What did you do?" asked Lily urgently.

"I - I don't know, seriously," he said not making eye contact with anyone.

Lily got up and tried to follow Rose, but the feeling of two hands on her arms stopped her. One was the hand of James Potter and the other, Sirius Black.

"Don't go, Lily…" whimpered James. She tore her arm away from his hand, and turned her gaze to Sirius.

"I reckon I know where she went. I started this, I may as well finish it."

Lily nodded her head and her vibrant, red hair fell out of the bun it had previously been tied in, blocking the view of her surroundings, just as David Snoot walked by. He glanced at James, and then lingered on Lily. He quickly made his way out of the Great Hall.

Lily doubted whether Sirius knew where Rose had run off to, when she had no clue and she had known Rose for years. She had come across Rose on places she'd stumbled into by mistake. She swept her hair and pulled it into a neat pony tail, and continued eating her breakfast.

* * *

"Remus…" asked James. He looked an absolute mess. His hair was as untidy as ever, and dark rings had settled beneath his eyes. His shirt was wrinkled and un-tucked, with ink smeared on his sleeve. 

"You look utterly atrocious. What happened to you?"

"Well," James yawned, "Me and Lily were on patrol and found the girls bathroom… messed up. Ink… everywhere." James groaned at the memory.Remus waved his wand at James' sleeve and the ink wasn't as noticeable, but it wasn't completely gone.

"How much sleep did you get?"

"Uh… about two or three hours."

"And Lily just left you there?"

"Something weird happened to her… she looked like she was going to be sick, or something," James started unsurely, but was interrupted at that moment by none other than-

"Hello James." said a tall boy with short, dark hair and dark blue eyes. His face was a square shape with very strong features. He was a lot taller than both James and Remus, and to some girls would appear better looking.

"I would like to talk with James in private, please." He stated, staring at Remus.

Remus waved his hand at James and disappeared around the corner, heading to the first lesson of the day… Potions.

"I'm David, by the way, from Hufflepuff. Uh, David S. Don't like my last name you see…" he said distractedly, winking to an attractive brunette girl nearby.

James blinked at the boy, and smirked. "And?" he said.

"Oh yes," David said, returning his attention to James. "I am missing my bag, and my wand. I've seen your adds around…" he said with a smirk. James was too tired and irritated and didn't care that it was rude to roll his eyes.

"I'll get back to you later, class is about to start. Oh, but here's your wand." he said reaching into his bag and pulling out the rather short wand and handing it to David. "You'll be needing that. You might want to talk to Lily about this, I'm a bit busy at the moment." James lied, he didn't like the bloke at all.

"Right… Lily. She's that red haired girl, isn't she? Friends with Rose?"

James nodded, but just before James turned to leave, he spotted a silver ring on David's finger. It had a Snake on it. He found it odd that David should be sporting the animal from Slytherins house, and not Hufflepuffs.

"See you later, mate…" David said.

* * *

"I would like to welcome you all to your second class of -" Professor McGonagall began, but went unheard of by the Marauders. 

"Sirius, what exactly did you say to Rose today?" asked a very concerned Remus.

Sirius paled at the memory.

"And you didn't find her?" asked Remus again after a moments pause.

Sirius paled even more, and shook his head slightly.

"Lily almost-"

"Just leave him. They'll work it out…" James said irritably, blowing out a breath he had been holding. Remus returned his gaze to the professor, just as there was a knock at the door.

"Ever so sorry I'm late, professor McGonagall. I realised I had left some of my books back up in my dormitory." Rose said staring straight at the Professor. Rose was well liked by some of the teachers, and had managed to build a friendship with most of them. Professor McGonagall looked a bit concerned but excused her, none the less.

Rose made her way up to the back of the classroom, and sat down. Sirius and the other Marauders watched her as she unloaded her books onto her desk. When she had finished, her eyes dashed around the classroom and landed on Peter, who cringed slightly and instead of looking at Rose, looked at Lily. She then moved her eyes to Remus, who turned around almost as soon as her eyes hit his. Her eyes then moved to James, who copied Remus, and finally they landed on Sirius. It was like a staring competition. The both stared stubbornly at each other, before Rose turned her head in the direction of the professor. But Sirius was still staring at her. She shifted uneasily as she felt his eyes boring into her. Its funny how words could affect someone so easily…

Meanwhile, James was feeling very pleased with himself. He and Peter had swapped spots, so he was no sitting next to Lily.

_How are you, Lily? _He scrawled as neatly as possible onto a piece of parchment. He slid it across the desk, to Lily, who stared at it disbelievingly.She held it in her hands and with her wands, made it vanish, all the while looking at James. She then turned her attention to McGonagall.

James was fed up with her. He needed to get a reaction out of her. A huge smile flickered across his lips as he came across a _perfect_ idea. With his huge smile still in place, he turned his face towards Peter as his hand disappeared under the desk. He found his knee, which he knocked into Lily's, just to make sure he knew where her knee was. He then moved his hand off his knee and on to hers. Almost immediately, she jumped up and screamed "JAMES BLOODY POTTER! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN ARE YOU DOING! KEEP YOUR-" The sound of Professor McGonagalls voice clearing brought Lily back to Hogwarts. Her brilliant eyes widened and she sat down.

"Something you'd like to share with us Miss Evans?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Lily shook her head, and as soon as McGonagall had turned her head she whispered, "Engorgio," with her wand pointing straight at James. Immediately, his whole body started to swell, until it reached a huge size. Lily couldn't contain herself any longer. She burst into a fit of laughter, and the class joined in.

"MISS EVANS! DETENTION THIS SATURDAY. 3PM SHARP!" she shouted, outraged. "Remus, would you mind assisting James to the hospital wing?" A simple 'Reducio' spell would have been simple enough, thought Lily, but the less she got to see of James, the better.

* * *

At the end of the lesson, McGonagall had rewarded them with a seven inch essay, and a project to be completed by the following week. Each student jotted it down slowly, as if wishing the words would change themselves into 'No homework for the whole year from McGonagall!', but alas, no such thing occurred. 

As soon as the bell rang for lunch, Rose ran for the door, where Lily was waiting for her, closely followed by Sirius.

"Rose! Listen, I'm so sorry - " began Sirius hurriedly, fidgeting with his hands.

"Sirius - "

"I don't want this to influence our friendship in any-"

Rose blushed slightly, ignoring the stares they were getting, and interrupted again, "Sirius, listen!"

"Its just I was a bit - "

"_Sirius you PRAT! _Listen to me!" she hissed, suddenly. Almost everyone who was walking past had stopped to stare.

"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Cried Rose, at their surrounding audience. She grabbed Sirius's arm and pulled him down the corridor and walked until she found a secluded hallway.

"Don't worry about before, okay? I guess I just overreacted." Rose huffed, not quite looking Sirius in the eye.

"No. This isn't your fault, its mine. I shouldn't have said that - "

"Will you just bloody shut up!" cried Rose. "Arguments happen! Lets just forget about this, I think its better if we just leave it behind." she ended quietly, finally raising her eyes to Sirius's.

"So your forgiving me?" he asked, walking closer to her, with a playful smirk on his face. She backed up until she felt the cold, stone wall connect with her back. She was trapped.

"Yes I suppose so." she breathed. Sirius stopped walking towards her. There was hardly an inch left to walk before he walked into Rose, anyhow.

"Good…" he said, lowering his head closer to Rose's, who was staring, frightened, at Sirius. Their faces were about an inch apart, before Sirius dove his head into the side of Roses neck, who let out a shriek of laughter. His hands roamed over to her stomach as he tickled her. He grabbed the sides of her stomach and squeezed them, by this point tears of laughter were streaming down Rose's cheeks as she tried to struggle out of Sirius's tight grip. No such luck. He started to laugh as well, removing his head from her neck. He could hear her gasping for breath. He finally stopped, his hands resting on her waist.

Rose just stared at him, unable to understand why her heart felt so light suddenly. She could feel bubbles of laughter tickling her stomach. She realised how very hot it felt where his hands were at the moment. Sirius seemed to gain control of his senses and realised the exact location of his hands, and removed them. Rose could barely hold in a giggle. What else could she do?

"Come on," said Sirius, laughter shaking his voice slightly.

* * *

"Lily, I'm going to the lake, ok? Its so hot!" It was late afternoon, and Rose had just emerged out of the girls bathrooms, dressed in a bright yellow bathing suit. Lily stared at Rose, dumbfounded. This was a public girls bathroom, and Rose was standing there in a brightly coloured bathing suit. She was more than likely to draw attention to herself in the corridors. It was very… tight on her, Lily had to admit. 

"You. Are. A. Raving. Lunatic." muttered Lily, but laughed all the same. "Off you go then, if you must."

"Hah, you love it. Bye Lily!" she said excitedly as she threw a yellow towel around her neck and ran to hug Lily. "Come down later and visit me!"

"Just how long are you staying in there?" asked Lily curiously.

"As long as I like Miss Taut and Grumpy - I mean Terrific." commented Rose as she batted her eyelashes. She opened the doors of the bathroom, and the sunshine of the early afternoon hit her, illuminating her hair. She sighed and ran out of site. Many eyes and cat calls followed her along the way. Lily giggled along with the rest of the girls who had been watching.

Lily walked out later, after inspecting her image. She was quite tall, at 5"9", just two inches shorter than Rose. Her hair was quite long and straight, but she usually kept it up in a very neat ponytail. Of course, her hair was as red as anything, and her eyes were as green as emeralds, shaped like almonds. Her nose was quite slim and she was always wearing a smile, which suited her image very well.

"Lily!" she heard someone call out, just as she had walked out of the bathroom. She turned around and stumbled, as she saw David Snoot walking towards her. As she registered who this boy was, a huge bubble of laughter burst out of her mouth, at the memory of second year, and how whenever he walked past, his fellow classmates used to chant:  
'Snooty Snooty, bum, bum, he is a big fat crumb!'  
Well, things had certainly changed since then. Lily put on her most angelic smile, and coughed a very tiny, insignificant cough.

"Hello. May I help you with something?" she asked lightly. She had no idea how he knew who she was, she had always tried to steer clear from him. And then she thought of those fliers Dumbledore had put up…

"Uh, yes. I don't know if you know me. My name is David S." Lily's smile widened. "I'm acquainted with a friend of yours. Rose."

"Oh yes! Rose." Lily stared up at him for a moment. "Well?" she prodded.

He let out a sigh of irritation. "You mean James didn't tell you about this morning?"

"Tell me what? Oh, are you David _Snoot_?" She asked. He looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh of irritation. Lily, satisfied, then said, "Oh yes, we found a series of your things all muddled up and in a state of depression, in Moaning Myrtles Bathroom! But don't worry. All of your text books I had James collect, and dry. He sent a letter to your parents, asking to buy you new quills, ink and such, all should be arriving by package this evening." Well, that's just what she hoped he had done. "I trust James gave you your wand back?"

"Yes, he did." He stared open mouthed at Lily. "He did all that?" asked David, in a tone that clearly suggested he thought Lily must be toying with him. Lily just smiled, unable to answer.

"Now, I have a few questions to ask you…" she stated, fumbling around her bag for a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink. "Follow me, please." she said with a smile, leading him down the corridor and into the first empty classroom she could find.

The room she selected was already well lit with rays of sunlight. Lily sat herself down behind a desk and looked expectantly at David. She rather liked bossing him around, playing secretary. He just shrugged and grabbed a chair, putting it next to Lily's, and sat down. Lily felt very uncomfortable sitting so close to him, so she picked up her chair and placed it opposite to where David was sitting. She was sure he thought she was mental.

"Anyway," breathed Lily nonchalantly, plopping her quill into her ink. "Like I said, we found your books and such that night in Myrtles bathroom. Can you explain to me what you were doing around the time your stuff went missing?" David sat for a moment in silence, while staring at Lily's hair.

"Well… I went to the Divination Classroom, and I dropped my bag at the bottom of the floor. Uh, and when I came out, it was gone…"

"Oh ok…" said Lily, jotting this all down. When she had finished, she looked back up and smiled. "Any idea who could have done this?"

"Um… well - "

"We're almost positive it's a girl." interrupted Lily.

David let out a laugh. It was one that was filled with life, and actually sounded like he meant it.

"Well in that case," he said, leaning closer to Lily, "It could either be Delilah Fair, Regan Fanny, Claire Brush, Jane Cream or Audrey McWilliams. The list just goes on…" he said smiling at Lily. "But they're the most recent _girls_ I've had rows with."

Lily stared, and bent her head down and wrote the names. "O-O-One with, um, long hair. Very long. And blonde!" she added.

"Well…" something silver glinted on his hand as he waved his hands around. As his hand stilled, she saw that it was a silver Snake.

"Thank you, I have enough here to work it out… I'll get back to you." she said very quickly. She gathered her books up, and lumbered out of the classroom, leaving David very frightened and concerned.

She stumbled as she saw miniscule sparks starting to appear before her eyes, making her even more disorientated. She felt so tired. She stopped, and her eyes drooped as she blacked out and hit the floor.

* * *

_A/N:Sorry I didn't continue longer. Its just been such a long time since I last updated I thought this would be better than just nothing for the next week or so. If it seemed a bit rushed, I'm sorry, but I have been very sick over the holidays, I have performed, I have also started at a new school and its all been a bit stressful. Sorry for the long wait. I would LOVE feedback. Tell me whats wrong with it, tell me what you like about it, tell me what you want more of. _

Ron Lover 2005


	4. Chapter Four

Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon.

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_A/N : Thank you so much for those reviews! It really encourages me to write more when I know people are looking forward to my next update J . I really don't expect this story to go longer than 20 chapters… I'd be surprised if it made it to 15 chapters. _

_Wow, 811 hits! And 143 hits on chapter 3... If only everyone reviewed sigh._

_**MariaCachucha** - Thank you J ! I'm glad you like it! I hope you enjoy this chapter. _

_**sexyteluguchica** - Haha… I'm glad you like my story! It just keeps on getting more and more mysterious from her on in, but I've been giving out lots of clues in each chapter. Like I said in my Authors Note, I would be surprised if I managed to write 15 chapters for this story… 20 chapters at the maximum. Depends how much fun I have with it : P. And don't worry, it will all come clear in the end. Its quite a difficult story line… better stop talking before I say too much._

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**Chapter Four**

* * *

_Everything was green. Wherever Lily looked, every object was green… all shades of it. She felt tired and terribly small… she could not move. Constricted, as if she were enclosed in plastic._

_She looked around her. She was very high up. The house was very dirty and unkempt. _

_From her point of view, she had a clear view of some windows, though what she didn't have was a very clear view out of the windows. Just underneath them, was a sink. Covered in filth. _

_Lily had forgotten what this house looked like when she could see in colours other than green. Why was she seeing things in green? It had happened slowly… over time. _

_She felt terribly alone and very scared. She was scared, because she was like a secret source of knowledge that no one knew about. She knew everything that was happening, and what had happened and she was not supposed to know. She was a spell gone wrong, and no one knew. But it was only a matter of time. And that was what scared her._

_Just at that moment, she heard a loud 'BOOM', and a creak from a door next to the room she currently occupied. Lily could not move her head, but she knew who it was simply by his stench of filth, mould and alcohol. _

_He moved into view and jumped as he saw Lily. He smiled widely. He must be drunk. He approached her slowly, letting out foul giggles. He reached out for her and placed her on his hand, where she fit just nicely. _

"_Hello my sweet," he whispered. She smelt his foul breath, but failed to move. She stared into his mouth and at his rotting teeth. She wanted to cry, but she couldn't. She could do nothing. Nothing but observe. _

"_Stupid… stupid, STUPID!" he roared, placing her back on her shelf. He turned his back on her and at that moment there was a knock on the door._

_

* * *

_

"Lily…" she heard someone speak.

She shifted. There was a sick feeling in her stomach as she remember her dream and sat up straight, her eyes wide. She looked down at her arms. They was paler than usual. She could move! She bounded out of bed and straight to a window, all illnesses forgotten. The feel of the cold stone floor hitting her feet was harsh, and she shivered. Though when she saw the view of Hogwarts grounds, her whole body warmed. She was safe. She looked at the green of the grass, and the blue of the sky. The sun was bright and inviting. She had been overreacting… it was just a dream.

She turned back around, and suddenly wished she hadn't. The sick feeling in her stomach came back and she became aware of how cold her feet were. She stared straight ahead at James. He rose uncertainly from his seat.

"Are you ok?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine. What happened?"

"You passed out one day ago. Snooty found you and brought you up here."

"Potter, I sure hope you sent a letter to his parents asking them to send him back some supplies!" she said.

"Remus did after I told him what had happened." James said sheepishly.

Lily looked around her. She must have been the only one occupying the hospital wing. The sheets on the beds were all clean and perfectly made. The stone floor was sparkling, and the high ceiling was filled with light. She stared at her reflection in a mirror opposite her. She looked a mess.

"I really ought to go. What day is it?"

"Saturday," James said, "and you're not going anywhere. We need to work on this thing with Snoot."

"You know he doesn't like it when people say his last name. Just call him David," Lily snapped, leaning on the window pane. She turned his back on him, and continued staring at the grounds. Watching as first years played with each other.

James smirked and advanced towards Lily. " Do you remember that little song?"

"What little song?" Lily asked, biting her curved lip. She was glad she was facing away from him, so he wouldn't get the satisfaction of seeing that smile on her face.

"I can see you in the reflection, Ms Smiley." he laughed. _Bugger_, she thought.

"Snooty, Snooty - "

"Get on with it." Lily snapped again, facing him.

"Lily… can we just be friends?" asked James hopefully, staring at Lily with wide eyes.

"No. We can never be friends. Your such a pri- "

"Please don't finish that sentence. Don't you think that since we're basically working with each other, we should at least make an effort to be friends? It would be the sensible thing to do…"

"Potter, just give up. You've done so much to me there's no chance of us ever becoming friends. You've ruined it." Lily said harshly, staring him straight into his eyes. His throat clenched.

"Fine. Whatever." he said. "Just - work with me here, will you?"

"Gee whiz, don't get your knickers in a twist." she said, walking over to him.

"I'm not wearing any," James whispered close to her ear as they headed towards her bedside table. He laid out a quill and some ink, and a bit of parchment with the information David had given to Lily about the girls he had fought with.

"Neither am I." joked Lily, completely forgetting who was sitting next to her. "Gosh, I - um -" two large pink spots appeared on her cheeks as James smiled wider than he had ever smiled before. She giggled slightly, and her heart felt lighter than it had been before.

"Back to the point," Lily breathed slowly, smiling.

"I reckon it was this Delilah Fair chick." said James heartily.

"What makes you think that?"

"She's a bit, um… feisty…" James blushed slightly, looking up at Lily, whose spirit suddenly fell. She didn't know why.

"Oh. And how would you know?" she asked, but already knowing the answer.

"You know… detention." he said hesitantly, staring at his hands.

"Right." she said. A moments silence followed, making them both feel very awkward.

"I have an idea!" James said very suddenly.

"What?" Lily asked, feeling quite tired.

"I'll ask him if we can see his wand for a second… and we can do a 'Prior Incantantem' thingy spell to see what spell he used last!"

"Why would we want to do that? And also, he's been using his wand for a couple of days now… the last spell he would have used was probably something he had to do in class, not what your thinking."

"Yeah ok. I was just thinking that maybe he put a spell on her that got her mad?"

"Oh… maybe. It might have been a Hair Removal spell! That's harsh. Wonder why he would have done that, though?"

"Meh," James said. He ran a hand through his hair and tapped his quill against the table. "I'll go and see her tomorrow and ask her." He noticed Lily stiffen.

"Is that wise?" she asked staring at him, her pupils large. He wanted nothing better than to lean forward and kiss her…

"Yes, I'm sure its wise. Why wouldn't it be?"

Lily just stared.

"Well, you two have been in a previous relationship, obviously."

"And why would that bother you?"

"I'm not saying it bothers me, I just - What are you doing?"

James moved from the chair beside her bed and came to sit next to her. The bed sunk slightly as he sat down, and Lily slid onto his lap. He could almost picture himself leaning down to kiss her. He had wanted to for so long. He stared straight into her eyes, which were wide. The colour of her eyes amazed him. So rich and green. He felt drawn to her eyes… it was as if they were sucking him in. A whirlpool of green overtook his senses, it was all he could see. He had no control over himself, he leaned in and tried to plant a kiss on her lips, but she quickly moved her head to the side. Her breathing was heavy and her cheeks burned with colour. She quickly stood, and ran as fast as she could to her dormitory.

"LILY!" he called after her. "I'M SORRY - I - I… I didn't mean to…" the doors slammed after her. _What should I do with her?_ He asked himself.

* * *

_A/N - Yes, I could have written more… but it would have taken me another three weeks. I hope you enjoyed it! I hope to update soon! REVIEW! Tell me what you like, what you didn't like, what you want more of. Tell me if you've found a mistake! Tell me - you get the picture. Just review, and I promise to update sooner!_

_Love,_

_Ron Lover 2005._


	5. Chapter Five

Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon.

_

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__A/N - Would have liked a few more reviews, but that's ok. Teehee, 1356 hits!_

_Emo-peanut-butter-cup - Thanks J . I'll try and stay focused._

_Alaskan_ _Chick - Thanks, here you go. Sorry for the delay…_

_And now I bring you 'Chapter Five'. Enjoy…  
_

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**Chapter Five**

* * *

"I BLOODY HATE HIM!" Lily fumed to Rose, a good six hours after the incident in the hospital wing, meaning that it was eight pm. Rose watched as Lily paced the girls dormitory. She had only ever seen her this angry after an encounter with Potter. Her eyes were huge and shocked, her hair was a mess, her cheeks were red with anger and heat.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE HIM! I JUST WANT TO…" it was right then that she let off a scream of anger and collapsed onto her bed. She turned her body around and buried her head into her pillow "I wish he'd just leave me alone…" Tears slipped out of her tired eyes. She didn't want anyone to see her like this because of Potter.

She felt weight on the bed as Rose sat down, which reminded her of the hospital wing incident. She buried her head further into her pillow and bit her lip hard. She couldn't hold it in anymore. Her body began shaking with sobs. Rose placed her hand on Lily's head, and began stroking her red hair as a mother would her child.

"It's ok Lily." whispered Rose. Lily shook her head. "Yes it is. Don't let Potter work you up like this. He's a wanker. What is he Lily? That's right. A wanker. Good girl." Lily lifted her head off the pillow and turned her thin frame to face Rose. Despite the tears running down her face and the redness of her eyes and cheeks, she wore a smile.

"I l-like that. J-James Potter - the w-wanker." Her smile widened." Has a r-ring to it." She heaved a long sigh, and laid her head in Rose's lap.

"I know you don't like being told this… no one does, but remember, you're very tired, and you just came back from the hospital wing after collapsing. You're obviously feeling a bit under the weather, and hungry, I'll bet." said Rose, winking at Lily, who nodded her head vigorously, as a few more tears slipped from her eyes.

"Your absolutely r-right." said Lily, sitting up straight and wiping her eyes.

"Yes, I always am… it's a gift, really. Anyway, how about I pop down to the kitchens and pick up some food. We'll eat it in here if you like."

"Sounds great. N-Need any help?"

"No, you have a shower and get changed. I'll be back in a jiffy." Rose picked herself up and walked to the door. Right now she was wearing her pyjamas, a copper satin nighty, that came to just above her knees. It matched her hair perfectly. She had her hair out of its usual pony-tail, and it looked amazing. It was like a curtain. It was so long and straight. People everywhere would _kill _for her hair. Including Lily.

"Should you wear a d-d-dressing gown or something o-over that?" asked Lily with her eyebrows raised.

Rose was just about to step though the door, before she turned to Lily with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Oh, of course. I completely forgot!" she said with a smirk upon her face. She went rummaging through her trunk, until she found the Gryffindor House dressing gown. It was completely red, with the Gryffindor Lion embroidered on the back. "Thanks mum! See you soon. Have a shower, you stink!" joked Rose, walking out the room.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw the Marauders…

"What are you up to? Hey, what's under that dressing gown, Rose?" came the sly voice of Sirius Black as Rose entered the common room. He was seated smugly in 'his' armchair with all his mates, including Potter, who laughed at Sirius' rude question. Rose faced Sirius with a huge grin on her face.

"YOU PERVERT!" screamed Rose at the top of her voice. The common room was silenced almost immediately, everyone's focus on Sirius.

"I don't believe this! She could have been speaking about anyone and you all just turn to look me!" asked Sirius, who was obviously outraged.

Rose giggled. "Bye bye…" she said in a silky voice, waving to Sirius. As she walked out the Portrait Hole, she made sure to pick her dressing gown up a little to show off some leg to Sirius. He just stared, mouth wide open.

Sirius jumped over the back of his armchair and made his way to the portrait hole. "Au'revoir, my friends!" he said, and walked out.

* * *

Rose was on her way to the kitchens. She was starting to wish that she had worn some shoes, as her feet were frozen! She was only a few portraits away from the kitchens, before something stopped her in her tracks.

"I didn't know we were allowed to wander around Hogwarts barefoot and without a school uniform on." came the voice of Sirius Black from behind her. Rose spun around on the spot, her hair a few seconds behind.

"God you're _annoying! _What do you want now, Sirius?"

Sirius mustered up his 'handsome' face (he practises his faces in the mirror, you see) and advanced towards her. Rose placed her hands on her waist, drawing back her dressing gown. Sirius tried not to glance down.

"I just wanted to know what you were doing wandering around the castle…" he said nonchalantly. He stopped two inches away from her. Which was much too close for Rose, who turned and continued on her journey to the portrait that would grant her access to the kitchens. She took her hand from her waist and tickled the pear with her long fingernails. A doorknob appeared and she grabbed hold of it. She turned her head to face Sirius, just before she turned the knob.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She opened the portrait and walked inside. Her dressing gown slipped of accidentally. She cringed. "Can you bring that up with you?" she called back to Sirius. She expected he'd pop through the door in a few seconds, so she continued walking until she met up with a house elf.

"What can I get for you miss?" asked the house elf obediently.

"Well… I wouldn't mind some chicken legs… do you have any spinach and feta rolls? Oh good. Hmm… two flasks of pumpkin juice and, uhh… some Jelly, please. It would be absolutely amazing if you could put all that into a basket for me. Thank you darling." The house elf scurried away. Rose turned and saw Sirius leaning against the wall.

"Did you get my dressing gown?"

"Why? Its not even cold." said Sirius, rolling his eyes.

"Yes it is."

"Well…" he walked towards her. "I'll keep you warm." he whispered in her ear.

"Oh yuck." said Rose. Holding her hands out in front of her, she pushed him away. If he thought she would give in that easily, he had another thing coming.

He looked a bit disappointed. '_She has a split personality or something…'_ he thought to himself

"Fine then… you don't know what you just turned down."

"What?" asked Rose giggling. "What did I just turn down, hmm?" she bit her lip and smiled cheekily.

"I love it here," he said, ignoring her last question.

"Mmm," she just stared at him.

"Come here," he said, snaking his hand around her waist and steering her towards a table near the end of the room, close to a fireplace. She quite liked the feel of his arm around her waist, but she'd never let it show.

"Sit," he said simply. Rose sat down delicately, crossing her legs. Sirius sat oppisite her. His leg rubbed against hers, though she pretended not to feel it.

"Erm, excuse me miss?" came the voice of the house elf who had helped Rose just before.

"Oh thank you! Your such a darling!" said Rose brightly, taking the basket out of the poor elf's clutches.

"Sammy, m'boy!" said Sirius laughing.

"Oh! Mr Sirius, sir. How are you, sir?"

"Jolly good, old man. Would you do us a favour and bring us two glasses and a bottle of fire whisky, please?"

"Oh, Mr Sirius… you should not be drinking…"

Sirius put his hand in his pocket and pulled out 5 galleons.

"Just for you, if you do this job for us. No telling, remember." The elf bowed his head and retreated.

"That sickens me."

"What? The alcohol?" asked Sirius stupidly.

"No. What you just did sickens me!" said Rose crossly, folding her arms across her chest.

"Will you drink it?" he asked curiously.

"I can't stay long…" she said quietly. "This is for Lily and I," she said, indicating the basket.

"You wouldn't let good alcohol go to waste, now would you?" he asked cheekily. "Come on…"

"Only one glass!" said Rose.

"Here you are Miss and Sir," said a disgruntled house elf, laying two glasses and a rather large bottle of Fire whisky on the table.

"Thanks." said Rose staring at Sirius as he poured them two glasses. He passed her a glass, and she took a sip. The stuff burnt her throat and her eyes watered.

"Ack! It burns!" she giggled. "Whoa…" she blinked a few times.

"Cheers!" said Sirius smiling. Their glasses clinked together, and Rose downed the whole lot with a giggle in her throat.

"Wow, Rose, are you ok?" asked Sirius, smiling slightly.

"Yeh…" she said staring intently at Sirius. She giggled again.

"Can I have summore?" asked Rose.

"No," said Sirius simply.

"You're absolutely right! What was I thinking?" She giggled a bit again. Sirius downed his glass in one gulp, but it didn't have the same affect it did on Rose. It just burned his throat.

"Hmm… I'm going to go now. Lily is waiting for me." Rose stood and stumbled a bit. Sirius got up with her.

"Just a bit longer?" he asked, holding her hand.

"Nope. Absolutely no way! Lily is waiting for you. I mean. She's waiting for me. Haha. Silly me."

"Please?" asked Sirius, his grey eyes boring into her blue ones. She shook her head and Sirius dropped her hand.

"Promise you'll meet me back here tomorrow night, then? Same time?" asked Sirius anxiously.

"Umm…" Rose tilted her head to the side, examining his handsome face. Sirius grabbed hold of her hand again and rubbed it against his face, making Rose giggle. "Umm…" she repeated.

"Please?" he said while pressing a kiss to her knuckles. Which sent Rose into a fit of giggles once more.

"If you don't say you'll come I'm going to have to attack you!" he said sneakily, wrapping his other hand around her waist and pulling her closer. She laughed out loud.

"Sirius," she pouted. His hand squeezed her side and she laughed at the tickling sensation.

"Sirius, I-"

"Rose…" he whined.

"I can't! I'm sorry!" she said. The alcohol had just about worn off, and she wasn't in such a merry state.

He removed his hand from her waist. With his other hand, he dropped her hand. He stared at her intently.

"Is that your final answer?" he asked.

Rose nodded her head solemnly. He smiled and as quick as lightening, his hands found her sides and he squeezed them. She let our a shriek of laughter. He tickled her under her arms and her belly between Rose's shrieks of laughter and protest, until finally, he stopped. Rose was still laughing, and so was Sirius.

"I'll ask you again… is that your final answer?" said Sirius as their laughter died down.

Rose looked thoughtful for a moment. "Why do you want me to come back so bad?" she asked thoughtfully.

Sirius shrugged. "Need someone to keep me company." his hands found her hands once more. "Please Rose…" he looked into her eyes and he knew that this time she would say yes.

"Oh fine!" she sighed. He grinned. "But you have to carry me, my basket, and my dressing gown back to the common room!" she giggled.

"Your wish is my command!"

* * *

It was half past nine when Rose finally came back into the dorm. Some of the girls who slept in their dorms were there.

"Hi Claudia! Hi Haylee! Hi Tillese!" said Rose waving at her fellow roommates. They all looked at each other, unsure of how to react. Rose _never_ said hi to them. "Hi Lily!" Lily was in her pyjamas (a very large blue shirt that covered her up to her mid thigh), lying on her bed, reading some magazine. Rose sighed and plopped herself down on Lily's bed, closing the curtains around them and casting a silencing spell.

"Well, here's the food!" said Rose putting the basket on her bed.

"What took you so long?" asked Lily curiously. It wasn't unusual to find Rose in a happy mood, but there was something suspicious about her right now…

"Oh you know…"

"No, I don't."

"Tuck in!"

"Where's your dressing gown?" Asked Lily.

"Oh…" she was in trouble here. Sirius must have kept her dressing gown by mistake. "I wasn't wearing a dressing gown when I left," Rose lied, hoping Lily wouldn't remember.

"Yes you were. I made you. Remember?"

"Oh. That's right. I must've… left it in the kitchens. I'll go back tomorrow and get it." _Thank god! _thought Rose. Lily grabbed a chicken leg and tore at it.

"Watch yourself there!" said Rose, laughing. Lily smiled through a mouthful of food.

"I fuhnggry!"

"Is that so!" said Rose puzzled.

"I said, 'I'm hungry!'" translated Lily. Rose shook her head and laughed.

"Wait a second… what's that smell?" asked Lily suddenly. If there was one thing Rose hated, it was the smell alcohol left lingering on your breath.

"Oh my gosh. Rose, have you been drinking?" asked Lily, eyes wide open, all thought of food left far behind.

"Oh! Lily! How could you think that? It must be those girls… you know… always, erm, drinking! Ha-ha…" said Rose nervously.

"Right. Spill!"

"Spill? Your absolutely right! They spilt the alcohol! My gosh, you are a smart one now, aren't you?" Before Lily could speak, Rose yawned a long, fake yawn. "Oh dear. I am rather tired. I think I'll call it a night." but Lily's hand closed around Rose's, and Rose knew there was no escape.

"What happened when you were gone?" asked Lily with a smile upon her face. Rose cracked her up sometimes.

"Not a tremendous lot," began Rose.

"Hah! You know, I thought that having a sister trained you to be a good liar…" said Lily.

"Humph."

"Tell me…"

"I bumped into someone! That's all!" said Rose.

"Who is this 'Someone'? Sounds mysterious, sounds nice, sounds hot, ooh, I like the sound of this!" giggled Lily, provoking Rose.

"Hah. If only you knew who you were calling 'nice', 'mysterious' and 'hot'…"

"Tell me!"

"Oh alright. Just to see your face. Sirius Black."

Lily looked shocked. "Seriously?"

"Siriusly Sirius." joked Rose.

"That's not even funny… its sad!"

"Now Lily…"

"Ew, what did you get up to? Oh yuck. I don't want to know! Firewhisky, happiness… oh my…" Lily looked like she was about to faint.

"Lily! We just talked! Nothing more!"

"Sirius Black? Talking?"

"Keep your voice down. We're just friends. God! Not even!"

"Now, this is the part where I can tease you about Sirius, like you tease me about James!" she said suddenly.

"Lily, its not like that! I swear! Sirius doesn't like me like that. And I don't like him like that…" she paused. She didn't know what she felt for Sirius… she supposed he was alright… rather handsome, and rather nice when he was away from his friends. Very handsome. And funny. And handsome. Yes he was quite a striking young man. She snapped out of her thoughts and continued with her monologue, that was having no effect on Lily whatsoever. "Whereas with you and James, James likes you! No, he _loves_ you. And you-"

"Oh please." snapped Lily. "I don't want to hear anymore. The fact is, that you and Sirius have a little thing going on." she said smugly.

"Lily!" Rose whined.

"What? I didn't do anything!" smiled Lily. "Oh my goodness. Hah! He has your dressing gown! Oh god. Rose, promise all you did was talk!"

"I promise." said Rose rolling her eyes.

"Rose, why are your pyjamas wrinkled?" asked Lily suddenly. "Oh LORD!"

"No! Ok! Here's what happened!" said Rose. She was beginning to laugh. "Sirius and I were talking, and I felt tired. So I asked if he could carry me, my basket, and my dressing gown back up to the Gryffindor Common room!"

"What is your definition of 'talking' exactly?"

"No, I'm saying that the reason my pyjamas are wrinkles is because he carried me all the way to Gryffindor Tower!"

"But why would you ask him to do that?"

Now this was where things got a bit sticky…

"Well I wasn't wearing any shoes, and the floor is freezing cold! I was cold! And I wanted him to suffer!" said Rose.

"Hmm… I still don't believe you. For one thing, you're not tired right now." smiled Lily.

"Lily! Your unfair!" said Rose, giggling some more.

"Rose and Sirius… My, my, my…"

"Lily… nothing happened. We're friends."

"Oh I see, the old 'We're only friends!' story now, is it?"

"I'm going to bed!" said Rose.

"I knew you'd give in."

"Oh ho, Lily. I'm not giving in. I'll never give in." And with that, Rose stepped out of the curtains surrounding Lily's bed, and lay down on her own. With her wand, she shut the curtains around her bed, lay there, and thought.

* * *

Four hours later and she still hadn't gotten a wink of sleep. All she could think about was Sirius. She was mad. Absolutely bonkers. Sirius Black! There was something wrong with her. She decided it might be a good idea to go and pay Sirius a visit… you know, go and pick up her dressing gown.

As quietly as possible, she slipped some socks on and climbed out of bed, making her way out of the girls dormitory. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she noticed that no one was in the common room, where she thought he might have been. Which meant that he must be in the boys dormitory. Oh dear. Did she really want to go in there? She shivered as a breeze blew through the empty common room. Up the stairs to the boys dormitory it would have to be.

Slowly she made her way to their dorm. Her heart beat wildly in her chest as she turned the doorknob. She almost had a heart attack as she saw a candle on someone's side table. She was even more shaken when she saw that the person who's light was on was awake.

"Rose?" they whispered questioningly.

* * *

_A/N - Bwahaha. I understand why writers like cliffhangers now. I pretty much wrote that all tonight. Sorry if there are ny mistakes. I tried proof-reading it. Anyway,review! _

_Ron Lover 2005_


	6. Chapter Six

Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon.

* * *

_A/N - Thanks for reviewing guys! Gave me a real lift. I thought I'd put a new chapter into action A.S.A.P. Which is odd of me… squeeeee I have reviews!_

_Lana - Hah. I know. It'll get better, I promise. Not sure if you'll like the beginning of this chapter… _

_StarshineBaby - Thanks!_

_HP Lover - Thanks! Its about both, really, but mainly Lily and James._

_CassandraMcGlynn - Thanks -grin-! Here it is!_

_SpAzZzZzAtTaCk - Thanks! I'm so happy you enjoy my story! I updated as quickly as possible. I found it hard writing this chapter though, that's why it took a bit longer than I expected. And I was handed an assignment my first day back at school after the holidays. I am so unimpressed with that teacher right now. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy! _

_Alaskan Chick - Hahaha. I LOVE writing cliffhangers. Though I understand how horrible it must be for you guys. Thanks for the comment!_

_Thanks to all my reviewers! And now I bring you 'Chapter Six'._

* * *

**Chapter Six**

* * *

Lily awoke to the sound of feet shuffling across the floor. She glanced at her watch on the side table. It was one am! Who could be wandering around at this hour? 

Curiosity getting the best of her, she quietly rose from her bed and slipped some slippers on. It became apparent that Rose's bed was empty. Lily knew there was something going on…

She decided to wait in the common room, and as soon as Rose came back from wherever she had been, she would interrogate her. As quietly as possible (so she wouldn't wake the other girls in the dorm) she stepped out onto the girls staircase, and made her way down to the common room. The fire in the fireplace was still roaring, though not nearly as much as a few hours ago. She sat herself in one of the armchairs next to the fire, and immediately warmed up.

* * *

_At the same time…_

Rose blinked. Thank god. It was only Sirius.

"What are you doing here?"

"Oh…" Rose came further into the room and stood in front of Sirius. He was looking quite dishevelled and tired. His hair strongly resembled that of James Potters at the current time. "Look like you've had a rough night," she joked.

Sirius, who was sitting on the side of his bed, moved across to make a space for Rose to sit down, which she did.

"Haven't been getting much sleep," he said.

"Me too… I just came to get my dressing gown."

"Did you now?" Sirius smirked.

"Yes," continued Rose. Sirius just stared at her. She began to feel quite self-conscious. "Well… do you have it?"

"Maybe I do. Maybe I don't."

"Your so annoying!" she laughed. "Just hand it over please…"

"Remember to keep your voice down…"

"Sorry."

A moments silence followed before Sirius reached his hand under his pillow and pulled her dressing gown from beneath it. He handed it to her.

"Here," he said.

"Why was it under your pillow?" asked Rose, feeling heat rise to her cheeks.

"Didn't want Peter to see it. We'd have never heard from your dressing gown ever again!" he joked. Rose smiled, unsure of what to do or say next.

Sirius crawled onto his bed and lay down.

"I'll leave you alone if you want," said Rose quietly.

"Lie down and talk to me. I can't get to sleep anyway." Rose's heart leapt at this suggestion. She lay down next to him. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest. She could just imagine the look on Lily's face if she ever found out that she, Rose, was lying on Sirius' bed… which, hopefully, she wouldn't.

"Does James like Lily?" asked Rose quite suddenly.

"He's utterly obsessed!" whispered Sirius, rolling his eyes. He reached over Rose and grabbed his wand from his side table. He then shut the curtains around his bed with a simple flick of his wand, which cast a red glow around the bed. Pocketing his wand, he lay on his side to get a better look of Rose, who was beginning to feel quite nervous.

"Does Lily like James?" he asked.

"Somewhere deep down inside…" said Rose thoughtfully. She was beginning to feel much more at ease.

"Why did you say that to me the other day? You know…"

Sirius seemed shocked at her mentioning the argument again, as she had brushed it off so easily.

"Its just what you said has been playing on my mind. Its stupid really. Oh, who cares. Just forget it."

"I'm so sorry. I was just tired…"

Sirius lifted a hand and began brushing hair from her face. His light touch gave Rose shivers and she closed her eyes. She was beginning to feel quite tired.

"Rose?" asked Sirius. Rose was on the brink of falling asleep, but still found the energy to answer.

"Mmm?"

"Are we still on for tonight?"

Rose smiled, bit her lip, and nodded.

"Good." The sound of the dormitory door closing scared them both quite a bit.

"Are you cold?" he asked after a few minutes.

"A little…" she said smiling broadly, wondering what he would do. She felt the weight on the bed shift around a bit and the next thing she knew, an arm was draped across her middle, and Sirius' head lay next to hers.

"Then I'll keep you warm."

* * *

Lily was still down in the common room, staring at the fire. Her attention was moved from the fire to the nearby sound of a door closing and heavy footsteps pounding down the stairs. Next she heard angry muttering… 

"Bloody Sirius and his bloody midnight visits… I just want to sleep!" The voice sounded far too familiar to Lily and she watched with dread as the boy named James Potter stumbled into the common room. He was wearing a white tank top and long, grey pants. His hair was, as usual, spiky and poking out at odd angles. When he caught site of Lily, his round, hazel eyes expanded to twice their size and he stopped dead in his tracks. Lily stared for a moment and then blessed the fireplace with her attention. Anger coursed through her veins from earlier the previous day.

She heard him walk closer and then she heard him sit in the sofa next to her armchair. She moved her head to stare at him.

"What do you want?" she asked harshly.

"Whoa, Flower-"

"Don't call me that."

An awkward silence followed.

"Sirius just has a visitor. They're talking and its annoying. I can't get to sleep…"

"So you decided to bless me with your presence?"

"Its not like I knew you were here. If I had have known you were here, I would never have come. Why are you always so difficult?" he said angrily.

"Why are you such an idiot?" Lily was now on her feet.

"Sit down Evans…"

"You can't tell me what to do and what not to do!"

"Don't get your knickers in a twist…" he quoted.

"You're so pathetic. Its not even funny." Lily placed herself back in her armchair.

"Today before I kissed you, you were fine with me! What happened? Why do you make such a huge deal out of things?"

"Maybe because you're so… you're so…"

"I'm so what?"

"Unbelievable!" she confessed.

"Yes, most people would say that," he smirked.

Lily just shook her head in disbelief.

"I can't bel_ie_ve you!" she was so mad, and so tired, she felt that if he said one more thing, she would lose the plot and start crying all over again.

"You're gorgeous, Lily."

"Just leave me alone!" she said. Her voice shook with sadness… he knew now that she was on the brink of crying.

"Lily, I'm sorry."

"No your not!" a single tear slipped from her eye. Luckily she was facing the fireplace. She cradled her head in her hands.

"Lily, why won't you go out with me?"

"Oh Potter!" she cried. "Y-Your such an i-idiot! I don't b-believe you!" She felt so pathetic. This was the second time in the space of 6 hours that she had cried over Potter.

"Are you alright?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm fine!" she spat maliciously.

"You don't sound fine. Just tell me what's wrong."

"_You_ are what's w-wrong! Y-You! " she said, looking him straight in the eye. He looked schocked to see her in such a state.

"I'm not the one causing you to cry, am I?" he asked curiously, appearing to have ignored her last statement - or possibly he just wanted to see her suffer...

Lily raised her head to the ceiling, as if to ask God why this was happening to her.

"Lily I'm so sorry." he said sincerely. He moved from his chair and came to sit next to her. Lily felt her heart leap into her throat as his weight hit her chair. She suddenly wished she was wearing a lot more than an old, baggy t-shirt.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked quietly. She shook her red head and hiccoughed.

"Don't worry about it. Just forget it." She was just too tired to be difficult. She was NOT going to continue crying in front of Potter.

"Do you want to come and see Delilah Fair with me today at about three pm?" Lily looked at him with red, puffy eyes. "To interview her about what David did to make her so mad." Lily was relieved at the change of subject.

"Oh…" she sniffed, looking at her feet. "I can't. Detention with McGonagall at three." she smiled.

"Wasn't that meant to be today - I mean, yesterday at three pm?"

"I couldn't go today because I was sick."

"But you left the hospital wing before three!"

"Did I?" she asked slyly.

"I don't understand why you cast that spell on me," he said, surveying her red face. She still looked gorgeous.

"What don't you understand about it? You put your hand on my knee! That's invading my personal space. You deserved what you got."

James cursed her, which made her smile a bit. There were many different ways of looking at her James Potter situation. She could be happy, and laugh at the stupid things he did. She could be difficult (her preferred way of looking at things) and frown upon the horrendous things he did. Or she could feel lucky to have one of the most attractive men in Hogwarts chase after her, and give in to his charm. It would be a cold day in hell if Lily ever chose the last option. A very cold day in hell.

"So what do you think about this Christmas Ball we have to organise, Lily?" asked James.

"We haven't even begun planning it, _Potter._"

"Well, why don't we start right now?" he asked. Lily opened her mouth to reply, but James cut in.

"So, who are you going with?"

Lily froze. He was such an idiot. He was one of those pig, red, sore pimples that appeared on your forehead after a day of perfect skin…

"Well, no one yet. Since nobody except the teachers, prefects, you and I know about it," she said smartly.

"Yeah, but have you got any ideas?" He stared at her intensely.

"Have you?" she snapped.

"Yes, as a matter of fact…"

"Who?" she asked curiously.

"You'll just have to wait and find out now, won't you?" he said slyly.

She turned her head to face the wall oppisite them and heaved a sigh of resignation.

"What are you going to say to her tomorrow? Delilah, I mean…"

"Just ask her… about her previous relationship with David."

"Can't you do it earlier than three?"

"No."

"Why not?" she asked incredulously.

"Just can't. Its just too… complicated."

"Whatever." sighed Lily. A few minutes passed in awkward silence.

"Aren't you tired?" she snapped at him.

"I'll go then!" he said exasperatedly.

Lily sniffed. She was seriously tired. James stomped towards the boys staircase, and just before he took the first step, he turned around.

"I wish you'd just-"

"Just what?" Her green eyes snapped towards him.

"Forget it. Goodnight." he trudged back up the stairs.

After a few minutes, Lily's eyes began to droop. She was tired of waiting for Rose… but that thought hardly managed to register itself into Lily's mind before she fell into a deep sleep.

She was in such a deep sleep that she didn't notice as the final flames in the fireplace burned out, and she started to become cold. She didn't hear the sound of feet tip-toeing down a staircase. And she didn't see as a blanket was wrapped around her.

* * *

Rose awoke to the sound of Sirius snoring and the creaking of a door being shut. She almost had a heart attack. How long had she been there? Had Lily noticed her absence? Worse still, had any of Sirius's roommates noticed her there? The curtains were still closed around the bed, so she had a hunch that no one had _seen_ her, but that didn't mean they hadn't heard her… she couldn't stay any longer. 

"Sirius!" she hissed. Over the space of… well, however long they had been asleep, Sirius had managed to place half of his body on top of hers, considerably weighing her down.

"Sirius!" she hissed again, after no reaction. His snores stopped and he turned his head, shutting his eyes tightly. She knew he was awake.

"Sirius! I need to go!"

He lifted his head, groaned, and rolled of Rose.

"Why?" he moaned.

"Because I'll be in big trouble if Lily notices my absence."

"Ok…" his eyes flickered and shut.

"See you later…" she said. For a fleeting moment, she felt compelled to lean down and place a kiss on his rosy cheek, but mentally slapped herself. Without forgetting her dressing gown, she tip-toed to the door of the boys dormitory.

"Rose?" asked a voice. A voice that she knew was not Sirius's.

"James!" she turned around with a very forced smile on her face to see James Potter lying down in his bed and staring at her with a shocked face. "How wonderful to see you! Though it breaks my heart to say that I must be going now. Oh, and by the way… me ever being in this room stays between you, me and Sirius. Or else you might find yourself in a very sticky situation… literally." She was certainly not happy about him making Lily upset earlier, and had nothing to say to him apart from very impolite things that she didn't want damaging her reputation.

"Understand?"

_Gee, she must be peeved_… thought James. For he had only ever seen her in bright, happy moods. He nodded his head and she slammed the door in his face.

It really made him start to think. People were nearly always angry with him… why? He wasn't _that_ bad, was he? They all seemed to think that now he was an adult, that he should start to wizen up. Wizen up? How? What did he do to make them think that? It just didn't make sense to him. He was very smart. Topped all of his classes. He was quite mature… well, sometimes… maybe that's what they meant. Start being more mature. He rolled his eyes. Maturity came with experience. He had none of the necessary experience to become mature. Or did he? Did they mean for him to be more mature? And apparently he had an ego problem. Gee, they sure were asking a lot of him. He'd think of that later. Right now, he felt the need for sleep.

* * *

"Lily?" Rose squeaked as she saw a red headed figure sprawled across an armchair, and wrapped in a blanket. Lily didn't stir. As quiet as a mouse, Rose crept over to Lily. She stood over her, reached her hand out to grab the blanket covering Lily, and tore it away. This woke Lily up instantly. 

"ROSE!" she screeched before cursing a few times.

"I was ASLEEP! In case you hadn't noticed!" huffed Lily.

"Calm down! I just thought you might like to sleep in the comfort of your own bed. After all, you have a lovely detention tomorrow. May as well be well rested."

Lily looked at Rose. There barely was any light left in the common room, but she glared at Rose as best she could. Rose seemed to get the message.

"Sorry Lily."

Lily rolled those magnificent eyes.

"That's alright…"

"We need to catch up sometime. How about, after your detention, we'll go down to the Lake?"

Lily nodded. That suddenly reminded her of why she went down to the common room in the first place. Rose knew what Lily was about to say as Lily opened her mouth, so she turned on her heel, but -

"Not so fast Rose! Get your behind back here! Now!" Lily's voice shook with… excitement? Rose couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"What?" she turned her head to face Lily, trying her best to look clueless.

"Potter told me you went to see Sirius! What for?" Lily asked curiously.

"I left my dressing gown there." She said.

"Oh yes. And that would explain why you've been there for -" she looked at her watch, "a few hours now." Lily challenged Rose.

"What did you say? Jamsie told you?" Rose smirked. She started making her way to the girls dormitory. "I'll see you tomorrow, Lily. You probably want to go and give James a visit."

"It's not like that!" Lily called up the stairs. She heard Rose cackle, and a door close. A short while later, she followed in Rose's footsteps.

* * *

"Sooty!" Rose trilled as she saw her brown owl fly through the open window of the girls dormitory. It was only early and most of the other girls were all still asleep. Shall we say that Rose was a morning person and didn't sleep as much as other people. She stayed up late, and woke up early. 

Today it was overcast and cold. There wasn't much light, as there had been a few days beforehand. The floor was cold, the room was cold (and the open window didn't help), yet Rose was warm, and welcomed her owl.

"How have you been, Mr Sooty?" she asked while stoking him. He hooted softly and hopped around her bed. Rose reached for a quill, ink and some parchment. Once found, she set it up on her bed and looked thoughtfully at her owl. She needed to send some advice to her sister.

'_Dear Ethel,_' she began.

'_You stink! Ha ha ha. Just joking. I thought I'd send you some advice, to make this year easier for you. Aren't you lucky you have a big sister? It took me until fifth grade to work this one out. _

_You know how Slughorn sets you assignments that have to be a certain length? I have a way to get the required length needed and hardly spend any time on it. He's quite dim, really… all you have to do is, on your assignment page, write this: _

Name: Ethel Hayden

_Year: Year One_

_Subject: Potions_

_Teacher: Professor Slughorn_

_Make sure all that is in HUGE print._

_(Assignment Title) make it HUGE_

_And this is where you write all of that informative goodness._

_Make sure to do all the headers and answers at the beginning extra large. And make the title HUGE. That way, it takes up more space. And all he ever did was compliment me on how organised I was. Hah! Mind you, it only ever worked on Slughorn. None of the other teachers. Whatever you do, Ethel, do not tell anyone else this. Not even Josie._

_The best big sister ever,_

_Rose'_

By Josie, she meant Ethel's new best friend. She wondered how long it would last… it took her until third grade to form a friendship with Lily. Sooty hopped around impatiently as rose enveloped her letter, and eventually tied it to Sooty's leg, making sure not to hurt him with her long nails.

Rose decided on wearing a yellow dress, with a red ribbon around her waist, which she tied in a bow at the back. She grabbed a knitted yellow jumper and slipped on some white stockings. She then applied bright red lipstick.

"Rose?" mumbled Claudia from behind her. Rose turned to face her.

"Ugh! The lipstick hurts my eyes!" she mocked. Rose rolled her eyes and walked over to Lily's bed, where she was sleeping soundly. Hesitantly, she shook Lily awake. Lily struggled for a moment but soon opened her eyes.

"Going somewhere?" asked Lily after staring at Rose for a second.

"Yes. Breakfast. Hurry up!"

"Just give me a second!" She had to shower first. Rose waited around as Lily had a shower, and changed into a long sleeved pink shirt and a pair of green drainpipes. In the time Lily took to get ready, Rose had managed to plait her long hair. Lily didn't bother with make-up. She didn't need anything to enhance her features.

"Let's go!" squealed Rose.

* * *

"So Lily. If you were going to have a child, what would you name it? Say it was a girl…" asked Rose interestedly. 

"Um…" Lily looked confused. "The thought of children has never really occurred to me before."

"You two are talking about children?" asked James, who had snuck up behind them, intent on listening to their conversation.

"Yes, for your information. Care to take a seat?" asked Rose, indicating the seat opposite them. Lily ignored Rose's attempts at getting a reaction out of her. She focused on her bacon and attempted to eat. "You too, Peter, Remus and Sirius. Gather round!" They all looked at her as though she were mad.

"Mind if I sit right here?" asked Sirius to Rose, pointing to the seat next to her.

"Not at all," blushed Rose. Which was unusual for her.

Lily could hardy suppress a giggle as it escaped from her mouth.

"Alright there Flower?" asked James, who was piling sausages, eggs and tomato onto his plate. Remus, Peter and James had somehow managed to crawl under the table to sit on the opposite side to Lily and Rose.

"Hmm?" asked Rose.

"I wasn't talking about you. The other Flower."

"Should have known…" she laughed.

"We could go and see Delilah now, you know, Potter."

James looked slightly annoyed and nervous as his friends stared at him strangely. "I'll take care of it. Don't worry…"

"Yeah! Prongs'll have no trouble taking care of her. Presuming you mean Delilah Fair…"

"Shut up Padfoot." said James angrily, staring intently at his plate.

"Oh. I think I'll stay right out of this one, thanks," said Rose looking disgruntled.

"Should have known. I should have guessed you would want to snog her and that's it. That's why you didn't want me coming. You are disgusting." Lily said.

"Lily," whispered Rose, "Head Boy and Head Girl should set an example for the youth lings…"

Lily's eyes steeled over and she went back to eating her breakfast, completely ignoring James. James had a sudden idea. Lily had detention that day… at three o' clock. He might just be able to join her, and explain himself. That would mean meeting up with Delilah earlier…

"I'll be right back," he said. Eyes followed him as he strode towards Professor McGonagall.

"What in the world…" muttered Rose.

"He's up to something." whispered Sirius in Rose's ear. His breath tickling her ear once again sent shivers down her spine.

They watched as he stood before her, leaned forward and said something no one could hear. And it wasn't good. McGonagalls face had slowly started to turn red and her eyes widened in shock.

* * *

"Detention Mr Potter! You will be joining Ms Evans this afternoon at three o'clock. And you will also be joining me every other day of the week at six pm! I was hoping you could set a better example! This is your first warning. Once you hit three warning, you will no longer hold the Head Boy Position. Do you understand?" she said dangerously. Her eyes held anger, and disappointment and he knew he had done his job. He nodded his head and made his way back to his seat. 

"The nerve of that boy!" she shuddered.

* * *

"What did you do?" asked Sirius eagerly as James sat down with a slight grin on his face. 

"Tell you later…" he said, eyeing Lily.

* * *

"Delilah?" asked James. It was just after breakfast, and he had made his way to Delilah's favourite hideout. The Astronomy tower. The ferocious wind made James shiver violently and he hugged himself. Delilah was sitting in a corner, wrapped in a blanket, and with a beanie over her head. 

"I knew you'd come back to me." she said happily. Her dark, almond shaped eyes sparkled.

"No, Delilah. I've come to ask why you did that to David Snoot."

Her face immediately mirrored that of an angry snake.

"HE cast a hair removal spell on me! We had an argument. Ok? I just gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"I'm going to have to alert Professor Dumbledore of this." said James sternly.

"What? Why?" she asked, thoroughly confused.

"Business, I'm afraid."

"James…"

"I have to go. I'll see you around." He turned on his heel, and marched out.

* * *

Lily walked through the door to professor McGonagalls office. She had changed into some old clothes. A pair of jeans and a plain tee-shirt. Detentions usually meant getting dirty. 

McGonagall was sitting at her desk, reading a book. Lily had always liked the feel of her office. There was always a fire blazing in the background, and it was incredibly warm. The rich colours in the room added to it.

"Ah, Ms Evans." she said, surveying Lily with beady eyes," Mr Potter will be joining you shortly. You will be serving detention together."

"What?" asked Lily sharply. At that moment, James stormed through the door.

"Not late, am I?" he asked.

"Just on time. You and Ms Evans will be cleaning every toilet in Hogwarts. Rather gruesome, I know, but I'm afraid to say that you both deserve it. You will start at the bottom floor and work your way up. No magic is to be used. Do you understand?"

They nodded their heads glumly. There was no way Rose and Lily would be able to meet that night by the lake.

"Off to work, then."

* * *

_A/N: I found it extremely difficult to write this chapter.Some completely random things inthere -smile-.I hope you enjoyed!_

_I also need to inform you all that I will be going overseas in July. By then I should have another chapter up, though. I will be gone for 3 to 4 weeks, so there will be a delay with my updating. Just thought I'd let you know in case I didn't get to update any time before I go._

_Please review! Please!_

_Ron Lover 2005_


	7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon.

--

_A/N: Crunchies! I am so sorry for not updating in months! As I mentioned I went overseas; it was amazing and I had not one moment to write! I am sincerely sorry! I recently started school again and I have been handed 10assignments(3 completed) and I have several exams coming up. I will try to write as much as I can through all of that, though. I'm extremely grateful for everyone who's stuck with me through all these months. And thank you for all these new reviewers encouraging me to continue writing! _

_Lady Of The Rogue - I know; things are about to make a change for the better though, for James._

_SpAzZzZzAtTaCk_ _- I finally updated! Hope you had fun on camp!_

_CassandraHeartsSirius - I'm glad! I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as you've enjoyed the others!_

_QuickNotesQuill11 - Thanks!_

_Mel - I'll try )._

_Evilfurbykillre - Ok - I'll try saying 'First Year'. Hmm, in Aus we all say 'Year One', haha, but yeah I'll try. Thanks!_

_And now for what I hope should be an interesting chapter…_

--

Chapter Seven

--

Lily and James walked out of professor McGonagalls office; Lily clutching a mop in her hand, and James holding a bucket filled with water.

"Great punishment, eh?" he said after a few moments of complete silence. They walked into the boys toilets on the first floor. Lily resisted the urge of replying to James. It was bad enough she had to spend detention with him after all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

The first thing that caught Lily's attention was what looked like handwriting on the toilet doors. She walked up to one of the doors and started to read.

"I wouldn't read those if I were you, they aren't that interesting." James tried saying nonchalantly, but Lily detected a slight sound of alarm in his voice and chose to ignore him. Her eyes flickered to the top corner of the toilet door, and she wished she'd taken James' advice. _James Potter loves Lily Evans for life. _She walked on to the next toilet door, pretending not to have noticed that little comment. Though as soon as she moved onto the next door, her eyes instinctively looked up to the same spot James' comment had been on the previous door, and was slightly surprised to see the same markings there again. It was then she decided to turn around and get back to work.

She turned to find James staring straight at her. And she blushed. For what reason remains a mystery to her.

"Lily, I - " he seemed to be struggling. He seemed to give up after a seconds thought.

"You seem to be doing that a lot," she commented while walking up to him and dipping the mop into the bucket of water. James looked at her strangely. She felt awkward. She wasn't comfortable being in the same room as him right now. She decided to divert her gaze from his face to the floor. She began mopping, while he just stood there.

"You do know that I'm…" he paused - expecting her to interject. But she didn't. Though she did look up at him suspiciously. Her auburn hair was all over her face. It brought out the green in her eyes and he found that all he could do was stare for a moment or two. He hoped the eye contact that they now shared would never end.

"That I'm sorry for everything that's happened between us in the past day…" he managed to say in such a deep, quiet voice that Lily had trouble understanding what he had said. She fixed her gazed to the floor for a second, much to James' disappointment. She was at a loss of what to do. Nod her head, or ignore him? She _was_ a tad mean to him. _I mean, he's only human…_ she thought to herself. She did, after all have a whole hour or two left with him before their detention finished - and then patrolling the corridors this evening. She couldn't stand things being this awkward when she had to spend so much time with him… She decided on nodding her head.

Though she immediately regretted it. She wasn't quite ready to forgive him for what had happened in the hospital wing. Or what had happened a few hours after that in the common room. It wasn't like her to be so forgiving. She usually needed a few fays to get over an encounter with Potter. Not this time, she decided.

The mood in the room immediately changed to a slightly less awkward one. Lily felt in a better mood than she had, and James felt a tad more hopeful

"Good. I was worried you'd stay mad at me forever…" said James, eager to see her expression. But she kept her head down and continued to mop the floor. It was obvious she wasn't going to engage in any conversations with him at the present time.

"Would you say I'm mature?" he asked her eagerly after yet another few moments of silence.

"No. And when you are, its all an act - because everything you say when your trying to be mature deteriorates." She had some bite in her tone which he chose to ignore. He needed this time with her to build on some kind of relationship.

"I'm sorry about that as well. Just for you, Lily, I'll stop being an annoying, immature prick." The sound of her laughter echoed through the room for a second, and he praised himself for being able to make her laugh.

"I've always wanted to hear James Potter admit he was a prick," she commented, turning around to stare at him with a twinkle in her eye.

That sure wiped the smile off his face.

"You aren't handling this in a mature way," he spat… which increased her amount of laughter.

"Since when did you know so much about maturity, Potter? A few seconds experience I believe has done you well."

He couldn't believe it. He was trying. For her. To be mature - and all she could do was make fun of him? He chose to ignore it, though his ego urged him to argue with her. But he was going to try and control that urge. He needed this to work. He forced a smile. She decided to smile back. She was obviously in a good mood. He began to wonder why… what if she liked someone who's name wasn't James Potter? Then he scolded himself. It was OK if she was in a good mood. It meant nothing like that. What was wrong with him?

"Time for the girls bathroom, I think."

"So we don't have to actually clean the toilets themselves?" asked James.

"I'm not going near those things," said Lily seriously. James laughed.

"So lets talk about this Christmas Ball."

"It's ages away…" said Lily confusedly.

"I know, but I can't get it off my mind."

"Ok. In that case, I think there should be two different dances."

"Why?"

Lily passed the mop to him, and James began to mop the floors of the girls bathroom.

"One for First Years till Fourth Years, and another for Fifth Years till Seventh Years. "

"Good idea. Just one problem… its a Christmas Ball. Which means it will have to be on at the same time on the same night… and if they're two different dances, then they'd have to be in different parts of the school…"

"Oh… well, the older grades can go in the Great Hall, and the youngsters can be outside by the lake?"

"Ok."

"I don't think there should be a theme; fairies, or dragons, for example. And if there is, no one will go by it. I think dress robes should suit."

"Ok."

"And we'll get onto decorations later."

She watched James work for a couple of minutes.

"Well, that's the first floor done," said James triumphantly.

"You missed a spot," laughed Lily.

"Where?" asked James. He turned and looked around.

Lily raced upstairs to the next bathroom, abandoning James with all the equipment, and laughing all the while.

A few minutes after she'd entered the bathroom, James followed, looking extremely bemused, and slightly horrified at the sight of Lily sitting on the bathroom floor with a huge smile on her face.

"You will so pay for that…" he muttered, shaking his head at her - though his voice was serious, his face betrayed him by hinting a slight smile.

"Sorry, what did you say?" She wished he could be like this all the time. She had no idea what had gotten into her in the past half hour. It was like all bad feeling towards Potter she possessed, had left her body. She didn't like it one bit, but she found being nice to Potter so much easier than being difficult. It felt as though she had spent her whole life being difficult, and now she just needed to have a break.

James walked over to the taps and turned one on. Lily walked over, wondering what he could be doing.

"I said," mumbled James quietly, so Lily moved a bit closer, "you will so pay for that." And without another word, he put his hands under the running water, and splashed as much water as he could gather all over her, with a huge grin on his face.

Lily stood, paralysed with shock for a few moments, her mouth hanging wide open. James couldn't contain himself. He burst out laughing. Lily, though still in shock, pulled her wand from her pocket, and said,

"AGUAMENTI!"

A great spurt of water came hurtling from the tip of her wand and splashed all over James. He began to laugh along with her, though their fun was suddenly cut short as a voice from the door of the bathroom interrupted them.

"Lily and James…" smirked Sirius.

Lily ended the charm she was using on James, and hid her wand behind her back. She spun around with a wicked grin on her face. James was still laughing like an idiot.

"Oh, revenge is sweet." remarked Lily.

"Prongs, what did you do to her?"

James exchanged his laughter for a grin, and replied, "I have no idea!"

Sirius shook his head and decided to leave them alone.

"It's definitely your turn to clean," said Lily slyly.

"Anything for you, m'dear."

Lily thought that last remark would have been better left unsaid, but went along with it anyway.

Things slowly deteriorated from there, and when they finally finished their detention in the seventh floor toilet, after what seemed like only a few minutes, neither of them really wanted to leave.

"Who ever came up with the idea of a toilet on each floor?" asked James stupidly.

"I know; it was a very a stupid idea." Lily stood up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair had dried off from when James had ever so generously sprayed her with water, and her clothes were still clean, which was a bit of a surprise. She turned to James, who was watching her. She blinked unsurely.

"Let's just leave this stuff here. I have to meet Rose at the lake right about now."

"I'll walk you down," said James eagerly.

Lily didn't object to this idea, much to James' surprise. He followed her out the door, and they walked side by side along the corridor. It was amazing how her anger from this morning had dissipated so quickly… they had had not one fight in the course of this afternoon, which was a definite first.

"Lily?" James was the first one to break the silence.

"Mm?"

"Have you ever considered me a friend?"

"No, not really."

"What about after this afternoon?" he pressed.

Lily didn't know what to say to that. It hadn't really crossed her mind. She had been so nice to him over the past few hours, and he to her, but she had never really thought that after that they may become friends, of all things.

"Um…" She supposed he wasn't that bad. After this afternoon she'd seen a side of him she'd never seen before. And she liked it. They had gotten along well, after all, and they were Head Boy and Girl together; how long could she continue to hate him? Hate. She didn't feel any of that towards him any more.

"I don't know. I suppose it would be the right thing to do, after all, we need to set an example…" James was a bit disappointed with her answer, but at least it meant that he had gotten somewhere with her this afternoon. He turned to look down at her, and saw her blushing slightly. She turned her face to look away from James. This stroked James ego a bit…

"You're absolutely right. Becoming friends would be the best thing to do." Lily looked up at him, and he smirked his sexy smirk which made Lily grow even redder. She nodded her head to one side, and James found himself over the moon. He was friends with Lily Evans!

"I can just tell we're going to be the best of friends," he said with a huge grin, while sliding his arm around her waist.

"Don't. Push it. Potter." she snapped through gritted teeth. He smiled and removed his hand from her waist, and replaced it around her shoulders. Which she allowed. Barely.

They soon found themselves walking along the lake. The afternoon sun was gleaming on the lake, and highlighted the colour in Lily's hair. He was still smitten with Lily, and found himself unable to do anything but stare at her with a triumphant smirk on his face.

Rose was in view; sitting underneath a Beech tree with none other than Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

"Moony, Padfoot…" smiled James, plopping himself down next to his friends, much to Lily's annoyance. This was her time with Rose. She felt she had let herself go too far in allowing herself to be friends with James Potter, and her good mood had started to fade...

"I heard you two were getting friendly…" smirked Rose, exchanging a look with Remus.

"I never thought it possible." exclaimed Remus.

Lily sat in silence, clenching her teeth. She didn't want anyone taking this a step further. Rose saw the look on Lily's face and cheerfully changed the subject.

"So Remus, any girls in your life?" she asked, winking. It was always hard to tell when he blushed, because of his rosy cheeks, but now was one of those moments where his whole face turned a light shade of red; much to the amusement of Rose and Lily.

"Do we have to talk about my love life?" he asked desperately.

"We do now!" said Rose with a huge grin on her face. Rose pressed a few more questions on Remus, while Lily stared into the lake, not taking any notice to what was being said. James was watching her the whole time, with a happy heart.

"Where's Peter?" asked Lily suddenly. Her eyes widened slightly, and she looked from Sirius to Remus.

"No idea," said Sirius nonchalantly. Silence immediately followed. "Rose," Sirius said, "come with me." He stood up and reached for her outstretched hand. She grabbed it and he hoisted it up. And almost as if on purpose, he pulled her close to him so their bodies pressed together. Rose blushed in the presence of James, Remus and Lily.

"Sirius," she whispered, searching his grey eyes desperately with her light blue ones. He smiled and pulled away. "You three stay here and have fun. We'll see you later." He snaked his hand around Rose's waist and they began walking towards the castle.

"Well, what's happening there?" asked Remus.

"Not even Rose would tell me that. It's getting dark, I'm going inside for dinner." With that, Lily rose to her feet and walked daintily back into the castle, leaving Remus and James behind. She decided to go up to Gryffindor tower and clean up instead, since she didn't really feel hungry.

On her way she stumbled into a boy named Sean McWilliams, who was always nice to Lily… smiled at her, always asked her how she was… _Great, _she thought, _I just happen to come across Sean and I look like… something very unpleasant._

'Hey Lily, how are you?' he smiled as he walked up to her. The same routine every time. He had light blonde locks, with a feminine look about him. She smiled back and answered,

"I'm fine thanks. Just got off detention with Potter."

"Tut tut," he smirked.

"How are you?" she smiled.

"I'm ok." he said awkwardly. Lily didn't know what to say next. She didn't think it was right to just walk away, so she stayed put.

"Potter bothering you again?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

"You could say that. If detention wasn't enough, I have patrols with him tonight, until the early hours of the morning." she felt a slight pang of guilt about talking like that about Potter after she'd finally agreed to be friends.

"Why don't you just tell him you don't like him?" Lily started walking up to Gryffindor tower, and Sean followed.

"I have. Numerous amounts of times. Though he now has this crazy idea we're friends." She had no idea what she was saying. She had been the one to plant that idea in his head. Why was she saying this? She was confusing herself.

"I mean tell him you don't like him like… _that_."

"I do that too," she laughed. He smiled. She had no idea why her heart was suddenly beating so _very_ fast… "But he just never gets the idea." she continued. She was acting like a goblin to poor James. But she just couldn't stop.

"Is there any way you could get the message across to him?" Sean asked. There was something in his voice that made Lily anxious.

"There could be, but I haven't come up with it." she looked at him and he came to a halt, so she stopped too and turned to face him.

"I have an idea…" He turned to face Lily and walked forward. Lily slowly walked backwards with a smile on her face. She soon found herself pressed against a wall. _Damn it_, she thought frantically. He stopped before her, and laced his hand with hers. Never would she have thought that she would find herself in this position with Sean. And her heart was racing. And her face was hot. And at that particular moment, an image of James Potter popped up in her mind. Sean was slowly closing the space between their lips, and Lily tried to push the image of James out of her head, because that was wrong - but to no avail. Sean's lips closed in on Lily's. But it all felt wrong. James was on her mind. Sean was kissing her. She was extremely confused and nervous. Though she kissed back.

Sean broke the kiss and smiled a huge smile at Lily, who smiled back.

"Walk you up to Gryffindor tower?"

"Sure."

--

_A/N: Well, there it is. Sorry if it was a disappointment. I thought we'd get SOMETHING stirring after all this time. I'll try and update within the next month. I still have a number of assignments left to complete._

_Love Ron Lover 2005_


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